Cocktail Time at Kollázs

In Budapest, it’s not very common among locals to go to a hotel bar for drinks. For some reason, we have this idea that a hotel bar is a sort of foreign territory, reserved for hotel guests, who are happy to relax in their home away from home after an exhausting day of sightseeing and mixing with locals. And of course, most hotel bars are not very interesting, so no wonder we prefer going to the local bars. However, there are some hotels in Budapest that are absolutely worth checking out because they offer a unique experience that you couldn’t find anywhere else. When we heard about Kollázs, the new brasserie & bar at the Four Seasons, we wanted to check it out right away, so we decided to head out for cocktails on the opening night last Saturday. (Scroll down for our photos of Kollázs.)

Photo: Budapest Local

Having cocktails at the Four Seasons wasn’t a first time for us. We’ve always loved the building, the beautiful Secessionist-style Gresham Palace with the peacock gates, the astonishing mosaics and the stylish furniture, and of course, we loved sipping our cocktails in the hotel lounge area, while listening to live piano music. However, the opening of Kollázs in the former Páva restaurant marks a new era in the history of Four Seasons Budapest as this is the first time the hotel opens its doors to the public on a permanent basis. (There were previous efforts, like in the case of the FS Christmas Market, which was the very first time that the hotel actively invited the public into the building. Although probably most of the visitors couldn’t afford the Christmas presents from the shops that were selling rather luxury products.)

Cherry Daiquiri and Strawberry Aperol Spritz. Photo: Budapest Local

Kollázs is a brasserie & bar, which refers to a very much Parisian-style restaurant, where you can go for drinks or have a more casual dining experience. Brasseries in the Francophone culture are more laid back and relaxed than traditional restaurants. The design of Kollázs also expresses what brasseries are all about: the furniture is comfortable, the lights are dim and the wood and leather materials give you a comfortable feeling right away. However, at the same time, Kollázs is very stylish and if you have an eye for it, you will immediately notice the touch of the Secessionist and Art Deco era in details, like the chandeliers.

Photo: Budapest Local

We decided to sit at the bar and ordered a Cherry Daiquiri and a Strawberry Aperol Spritz. The serving was top notch and our cocktails were excellent (although maybe some complimentary nibbles to accompany the drinks would have been a nice addition). There were quite a lot of people but the place wasn’t full. Also, if we hadn’t known that this was the opening night, we would have thought that it was just another evening at Kollázs as there was no special opening event or live music.

As we learned from the Four Seasons Budapest staff, the design of Kollázs was realized by EDG Design (San Francisco), and the idea was to represent the multi-layered character of Budapest: old and new, luxurious and simple. The Hungarian name Kollázs, meaning collage, can be interpreted in several ways: Kollázs combines the functions of a rotisserie, a bar, a wine cellar and a patisserie. It also combines traditional and modern cuisine, the styles of Parisian brasseries and the Budapest coffee houses, and it combines the local and foreign cultures through the mixed background of its guests. Kollázs is the perfect place for a date, for drinks with your friends, or even for a business meeting, so don’t be surprised if you see a mixed crowd of people. Prices on the menu are “friendlier” than in the previous restaurant, which again shows that this new brasserie & bar is also accessible for those who have a more limited budget.

Photo: Budapest Local

And last but not least, here is some info for those, who want to know who are in charge of the food and drinks: the chef is Árpád Győrffy (previously chef at Arany Kaviár and sous-chef at Alabárdos Budapest), the sommelier is Mátyás Szik (previously head sommelier at Budapest’s Prime Steak & Wine), who has already won the Hungarian Sommelier Championship twice, and the cocktails were created based on a bar menu by Jaime Jones, the London-based international bar consultant and global gin connoisseur.

Practical informationAddress: 5–6 Széchenyi István Square 1051 view mapOpening hours: Breakfast: Mon–Fri 6:30am–10:30am, Sat–Sun 7am–11am, special lunch offer: 12pm–3pm, dinner: 6pm–10:30pm (kitchen closes at 10:30pm), bar: open until 1amWebsite: www.kollazs.huCheck availability & prices at Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest.Disclosure: If you decide to book your accommodation through this link, we’ll earn a small commission. And while you won’t have to pay anything extra when you complete a booking or make a purchase through these links, this small commission will make it possible for us to continue publishing similar articles on Budapest Local.

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